Location feature on stolen iPhone, plus quick action by victim, foil teens who robbed jogger at gunpoint

A jogger, robbed at gunpoint of his iPhone and Airpods Saturday afternoon in Watsonville, helped police track down his alleged assailants via the location feature on the phone.

Police are spreading word about what happened as an example of what people should do in the event they ever find themselves victims of a similar crime.

The 26-year old Watsonville man was jogging in the slough near the Ford/Kearney extension when two teenaged suspects pointed a gun at him and demanded his phone and headphones, police said.

The victim handed them over and the teens ran away. The victim ran home, called police, and about an hour after the initial report was taken, the victim was able to update officers with the current location of his phone via a tracking mechanism. (Apple devices are equipped with “Find My iPhone” technology that is accessible from other Apple devices.)

Officers were able to stop the suspects as they were riding inside a car near Ramsay Park.

“Given that a gun was used during the robbery, they conducted a high-risk car stop,” police wrote in a news release. “The suspects, who were identified by the victim, were taken into custody and booked into juvenile hall.”

The victim’s phone and earbuds were recovered, and the two juveniles are now facing robbery charges.